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I bet the clouds of Earth shifting the mass and gravity of the planet could change orbits by a few meters this way or that.
by Buttons840 3y ago
I bet the clouds of Earth shifting the mass and gravity of the planet could change orbits by a few meters this way or that.
- bagels 3y agoAtmosphere expands and contracts with solar activity and day night cycles, changing drag. That is the primary factor. Top forces in Leo are gravity (lumpy earth, sun, moon Jupiter), drag, solar radiation pressure
- JPLeRouzic 3y agoI am a layperson and never heard about that phenomenon, please could you provide a pointer?
- bagels 3y agoI am not a layperson, and I don't think any of the models take this in to account. Lumpy earth and drag are much larger effects. https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3655/ https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3655/ https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/impacts/satellite-drag https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/impacts/satellite-drag
- Buttons840 3y agoIt was just a guess. On second guess the atmosphere is a fluid so maybe it has very little effect. But when a satellite is traveling billions of miles, a little effect could easily move it a few feet one way or another, maybe. As others mentioned, there are larger effects.